Time for Queen’s Park to pass act to protect citizens from lawsuits
Thornhill letter to the editor

Thornhill Liberal
February 20, 2014
By Erin Shapero, Former Thornhill Markham councillor 2000-2010

With the provincial byelection now over in Thornhill, our attention returns to pressing issues — and there’s work to do.

It’s time to make sure important bills currently stalled at Queen’s Park get passed, such as the proposed law to protect a citizen’s right to speak out about controversial issues.

That’s why I am personally calling on Thornhill MPP Gila Martow to support the Protection of Public Participation Act in the upcoming session of the legislature.

This act is designed to protect citizens from SLAPP suits (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) — baseless lawsuits designed to intimidate and silence criticism, whether of a development plan, a polluting factory or arena proposal.  

Every year in Ontario, citizens are faced with SLAPP suits.

In my case, it was an effort to establish Ontario’s first foodbelt in Markham as a way to preserve valuable foodlands in the face of rapidly spreading urban development.

In calling for greater protection for first-class farmland, I, and fellow councillor Valerie Burke, stirred the wrath of a developer.  

We were both slapped with a lawsuit for $120,000 in damages and payment of the developer’s legal costs. All because we were doing what our constituents elected us to do: Speaking out for what we felt was best for our community and province.

It took a year and close to $100,000 in joint legal costs before we won — it was dismissed as having no merit by a provincial court.  

At the end of the day, the developer was forced to pay the bulk of our legal costs, but Valerie and I still personally ended up with a $20,000 legal bill (Markham does not have a policy to help councillors sued by developers).

We received no compensation for the valuable hours lost defending ourselves against this nonsense lawsuit or for the stress caused to our families.

Sadly, while the developer lost in court, he did not lose at council, where councillors who had witnessed the intimidation turned down our foodbelt proposal by a one-vote margin. Who lost? In my opinion, Markham residents.

Unfortunately, we’re not alone in our experience. Many other citizens have also felt the sting of SLAPPs in Ontario.

Thankfully, in June 2013, the provincial government introduced an act to address this injustice.

Now it’s time for action — time for Queen’s Park to pass the act for the good all Ontarians. Let’s see if our new MPP-elect can help deliver.